Incubator



Patentedsept. 24, v19.29 i v UNITED STATES'v JOHN' L. BOBBNS, OF EDGEWATER, COLORADO 4 :acusaron Bussum i Appi'cation led February 6, 1.928,. Serial-No. 252,136.

'In my present application the Ventilatingh fans have been located at the rear ci the incubator so as to blow the air transversely lo instead of longitudinally. It has been found that by this means a very satisfactory circulation ot' air is obtained and it is also pos- .sible to repair and replace the propellers without disturbing the eggswhile when the propellers are located at the ends of the hatching trays, they are inaccessible and therefore very difficult to take care of.

' In order to more clearly describe my invention reference will now be had to the accompanying drawing in which it has been il lustrated and in which:

1 is a horizontal section taken on line 1 1, Fig. 2; Y

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1; -Fig. 3 is a front elevation looking in the direction of arrows 3 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4--4, Fig.

3, and y Fig. 5 is a sect-ion taken on line 55,' Fi 3. My improved incubator comprises -a foor 1, a top 2, end m'embers 3, a rear wall 4 and a front comprising doors 5, 6 and .7, The

Hoor 1 is separated from the supporting surface 8 by means of transverse timbers 9; partition 10 separates the interior of the incubator into two compartments, A and B.

Compartment A contains the'incubating trays and compartment B contains the hatching trays. For the purpose of supporting the in cubating trays in such a manner that they can be tilted I have provided a shaft 11, one end l olwhich is journalled in the end 3, and the other of which is journalled in a transverse member 12 attached to the partition 10. 'lhe tra-ys 13 are slidably supported'l between frames 14 of which four have been shown.-

These supporting frames are provided with cleats l5 that extend transversely and which form slides for the tri s 13. rlhe construction of the trays and tliie supporting frames will not be described in detail as the specific construction is not material to this invention. The fr ame members 14 are nonrotatably secured to shaft 11 and to the outer'end of this shaft I havev secured a worm wheel 16, that is engaged by a worm 17 carried by one end of shaft 18. A crank 19 is secured to the outer end of shaft 18 and when shaft 18 is rotated, shat't 11 will also be rotated/and by this means the egg trays are tilted; about the axis of shaft 11. l 1

Attention is called at this point to the means employed Ytor latching the traysin position. Strips 20 are secured to the rear edges of the frame members 14 and serve as stops which prevent the trays from being pushed rearwardly. For the purpose of holding the trays against :forward movement, I have secured to the front vertical members of the frames 14 a bar 22 which is provided with a plurality of longitudinal slots 23 through which the screws 24 extend( These screws are `provided with wing nuts 25 and serve to tion, the trays can be pulled forward so as to be easily removed and inserted. 'lhe op-v eration o this latching-means has been quite A clearly illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. Lo-

cated within the incubator are electric heaters 27 by means of which the interior of the incubator is maintained at the desired temperature. As these heaters are quite univcrl sally employed and have merely been shown so as to better explain the invention, the circuit connections and manner of controlling their operation will not be described herein. Located above the heaters is a Water pan 28 -which serves to maintain the air within the incubator at the proper degree of humidity.

For the purpose of circulating the air within the incubator,l I have provided each of the compartments with a fan.v Compartment l A is provided with a lar e 'fan 'having four blades 29 that are secure to ahub 3Q. This hub has a shaft 31 that extends to the rear of the incubator and is rotatable in bearin 32. A yulley 33 is secured to the outer en of the s aft and this is connected by means of belt 34 to a motor 35. A similar fan is rotatably mounted in the rear of compartment B and. the various parts have been indicated by the same reference numerals as they are identical, except in size. The incubator is provided with a door 36 by means of which the operator can enter intoL the space where the propeller is located so as to make necessary repairs. When the propellers are rotated, they will cause a current of air to flow from the rear towards the front of the compartments, thereby producing a thorough ventilation of the incubating and hatching trays. Located to the rear of each of these propellers are Ventilating openings 37 through which fresh air enters the compartments, and in the top of the incubator I'have provided openings 39 through which air may leave.

By properly proportioning these openings, it is possible to maintain the air within the l .incubator fresh at all times and at the same time maintain it at the proper temperature and humidity.

Attention is called to the fact that by locating the fans tothe rear of the tray sections, the air will have freer passage than if the propellers were located at the ends. This advantapge is clearly apparent from an inspecrear wall, and means for rotating the fan so as to produce an air current that travels from the fan towards the doors directly in front of the fan whereby the air will return towards the fan along the outside of the central air current.

2. An incubator compr1s1ng an elongated compartment whose front slde 1s provided with doors that may be opened and closed, an

egg tray rack located within thecompartment, said rack being provided wlthtrans- Versely extending sli es for supporting egg trays, egg trays carried on the slides, a fan Y travels through the egg tray rack between. the superposltloned egg trays, and means for i turning the eggs. l A

In testimony whereof I' aix my signature.

JOHN L. ROBBINS.

trays in the manner shown in my copending application above referred to, the passages are obstructed by means of the frames that support the trays, and it is therefore very diilicu'lt to obtain a uniform circulation of the air especially where three or more sec-4 tions of incubating trays are arranged end to end as is now common practice. The advan- .tage described is also present in the hatching section and it has been found that a good reliable ventilation is of great importance for the best results both in the incubating and in the hatchingsections.

Having described my invention what I claim as new isf: A

1. An incubator comprising an elongated compartment whose front side is formed by doors that may be opened and closed, an egg tra rackf located within theV com artment,

sai rack being supported by a sha t extending lengthwise of the compartment and located closer to the front than to the rear wall, the rack being provided with transversely extending slides for supporting egg trays, egg

trays carriedA on said slides, afan located between the rear of the egg tray rack and the rear wall of the compartment and rotatable about a horizontal axis perpendicularto the 

